Arx Fatalis - PC - Review

No memory, and from the looks of it, not
much of a future. All he knew was that he awoke in a goblin jail cell,
almost naked with no idea of whom he was. The prisoner in the next cell
gives him a name: Am Shaegar, which basically means someone with no name.

With at least a name that he can respond
to, the next order of business is to escape the cell. A wall block wedged
between two bars that separate Am Shaegar’s cell from another unoccupied
cell is moved and the bars bend to allow the man egress to the empty room.
He picks up a heavy bone to use as a club. There is only one guard … then
there is none. The adventure begins.

Arx Fatalis, a PC release from Arkane Studios
and JoWooD, is a role-playing game that seldom sees the light of day, and
is ­ in some regards ­ a massive dungeon crawl. Am Shaegar is on
a quest to learn his identity and fulfill an unknown destiny. To that end
he will have to improve his skills, improve his weaponry, use his magical
abilities, solve puzzles, accomplish a variety of quests and battle a wide
variety of foes.

Arx Fatalis takes place on a planet where
all the inhabitants were forced to move underground. The world of Exosta
was, at one time, a beautiful place. But then the sun died, and the perpetual
darkness and cold drove the surface dwellers underground. It was a massive
undertaking, but the races banded together, and for a time the worlds of
goblins, trolls, dwarves, orcs, ratmen, humans and other exotic races lived
in peace. But in the close proximity to one another, and cramped confined
spaces of this underworld, the fragile thread holding the peace frayed,
and conflict flared. Awakened by the hatred and violence, Akbaa the Lord
of Destruction was freed into the new world of Arx.

According to legend, Akbaa had once allied
with the human high priest Iserbius to found a cult to worship him and
spread his reign of terror. Hidden temples were built and humans were sacrificed
to the evil lord. Finally one of the king’s astronomers uncovered the evil
doings of the high priest and sent a message to the Sybarta, the keepers
of balance between good and evil. The Sybarta, according to the legends,
send an emissary or guardian to Arx to counter the threat of Akbaa. This
guardian’s power would be able to restore the bonds that once held Akbaa,
but apparently the guardian ­ upon whom were the hopes of leading Arx
out of darkness ­ never appeared.

And then, a ‘man’ with no name, and no
memory finds himself locked in a goblin dungeon.

Well, it really doesn’t take a genius to
figure out where the story is leading, however Arx Fatalis is fraught with
side quests and missions that will keep Am Shaegar busy for quite some
time. And game players must make the decision whether to fight or to be
a bit smarter and work through situations with a minimum of violence (which
can be unavoidable at times). The idea is to level up your character, and
improve his inventory. When you do level, you are given points to spend
in two categories ­ your avatar’s attributes and skills.

One of the aspects of Arx that might not
make some players happy is the way equipment wears out so quickly. You
can repair them if you have a blacksmith’s hammer and the right environment,
but all that is few and far between in this world. It’s best to have a
store of weapons in your inventory. You can also purchase items, but again,
those points in the game are few and far between, and because gold doesn’t
plop into your lap, you have to watch how you spend.

An intriguing and wonderful game feature
is the magic-casting system. You find or buy runes and then memorize the
symbol and using the control key in conjunction with the mouse, draw the
rune on the computer monitor to cast the spell. The effect is stunning.
You can also find scrolls, which give you a one-time shot at certain spells.

The control elements are somewhat involved
and will take some time to get used to. And because this is a first-person
game, that perspective hampers you. It is also a problem in combat. Unfortunately
Arx doesn’t have a way for you to effectively block or avoid blows in melee
combat. You try to deliver the blow before the enemy does and hope to stagger
him enough to get in another shot or two. Holding a weapon doesn’t affect
spellcasting, but the game could have incorporated an option for equipping
and switching between two weapons. If one wears down in combat to the point
of being somewhat ineffective, the time it takes to open your inventory
and equip another weapon could be the determining factor in the battle.
You can try to retreat, but when you open your inventory, you stop moving.

Graphically Arx is very good. Some of the
animation is a bit off (when you meet the goblin who is collecting the
gems mined by the trolls, he asks you to follow him and then seems to occasionally,
and without reason, walk in a tight circle), but overall the game looks
very good.

The sound is also very solid.

While the game has a number of puzzles
and quests, the replayability of the game suffers because of the linear
nature. If you go through a couple of levels, then go back and create a
new character, emphasizing different attributes, you will find the same
monsters and problems as you did the first time through.

In spite of that, though, this is a thoroughly
enjoyable game. It looks good and has some terrific features. Arx Fatalis
may not be the one RPG that will redefine the genre, but it is a great
fix for RPG junkies.

Gameplay: 8
There are some load times involved as
your avatar moves from one level to the next. But once in a level, the
game moves very well. The game does have a few minor clipping problems.

Graphics: 8.6
The animation is well done, the environments
are excellent and the magic-casting system is superb. The game features
dynamic lighting effects, which boost the look of the environments.

Sound: 7.8
The music is very nice, the combat and
special effects are well done and the vocal characterizations are generally
very good. Some of the latter are a little effectual, but the principals
voice their characters well.

Difficulty: Medium
This game has a learning curve of 30-40
minutes to get comfortable with the controls. Because weapons wear out
quickly and rune stones are tough to find or very costly, this game presents
a superb challenge.

Concept: 7.8
The player interface is easy to access
and work through. The spell-casting system is excellent. The combat is
rather basic, though, and could have been much better. Other games, like
Gothic or The Wheel of Time, have used the same style of combat. What would
have improved it? The ability to duck under blows, or counter them rather
than take the blow and retaliate. It is almost like two boxer standing
in the middle of the ring, toe-to-toe, slugging it out. Missile combat
is solid, but is similar to other games.

Overall: 8.3
The game looks good and plays well. It
may have a few minor problems, but is quite enjoyable, and though somewhat
linear in regards to the overall storyline, still is quite entertaining.